Former Telltale Devs Form New Adventure Game Studio

Several former Telltale Games developers have founded a new development company, AdHoc Studio.

According to Variety, four former Telltale developers have reunited to form AdHoc with the intention of continuing their legacy of crafting narrative-focused games. While details on their first project have not been revealed, "the team is strongly hinting" it will be "an interactive, live-action experience."

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"Making interactive experiences with real actors on the screen is something we've always talked about," AdHoc Chief Creative Officer Pierre Shorette said. "We all have backgrounds and interest in film and television, so combining that with our experience in games is something we're exploring right now."

Shorette also cited recent movements in entertainment consumption as motivation for the studio's formation. "It feels like we’re at the precipice of a big shift in how we consume media where the lines between film, television, and games are starting to blur,” Shorette said, “With streaming platforms in our homes and cell phones in our pockets we’re in this unique time where the barrier to entry to interaction is gone. So as a group of people whose expertise and experience has come from making Interactive Narrative that sits in that space between, we feel now is the perfect time to form a studio that focuses on creating content for a new space.”

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Hybrid entertainment experiences like Bandersnatch and Her Story have experienced a resurgence and garnered critical acclaim, but we'll have to wait to see exactly what form AdHoc's new project will take.

Several of AdHoc's founding members, including Dennis Lenart, Nick Herman, and Pierre Shorette, had previously left Telltale to join Ubisoft. Herman and Lenart previously served as creative directors at Telltale, while Shorette was a director of writing. Herman is now serving as Chief Operating Officer for AdHoc, while Lenert fills the role of Chief Technology Officer, Shorette serves as Chief Creative Officer, and Former Telltale writer Michael Choung serves as CEO.

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According to Herman, the team first discussed forming a new studio while at Telltale, and had hoped of creating a new studio within the Ubisoft umbrella. When that did not come to pass, they decided to set off on their own and start AdHoc. One reason the team opted for a smaller studio, instead of one with the backing of a large company like Ubisoft, was flexibility.

"Having to pitch something that ultimately fifty people need to understand and approve means a lot of the more adventurous or risky ideas often die early on for a bunch of different reasons,” Lenart said in an interview with Variety. “We liked the idea that if it was just the four of us, we’d be able to more confidently wade into unfamiliar water.”